Learn about using the past continuous
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natalie: Good morning! |
| Braden: Braden here. Were You Thinking of Traveling in the US? |
| Braden: In this lesson, you'll learn about using the past continuous. |
| Natalie: This conversation takes place on the plane during the shift. |
| Braden: And it’s between Amanda and Michael. |
| Natalie: Amanda and Michael are comparing work history and companies they have worked for. They are speaking professionally but in a friendly way. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Amanda: Have you ever landed in Chicago before? |
| Michael: No. This is the first company I've worked for that flies to Chicago. |
| Amanda: Yeah I worked for a company last year that serviced the Chicago area, but not Chicago. My mother still thinks that all major cities have all airlines available at all times. |
| Michael: Yeah, the airline industry is certainly a unique one. |
| Amanda: Do you need a coffee? |
| Michael: I was just thinking about that! That would be great, thanks. |
| Braden: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Amanda: Have you ever landed in Chicago before? |
| Michael: No. This is the first company I've worked for that flies to Chicago. |
| Amanda: Yeah I worked for a company last year that serviced the Chicago area, but not Chicago. My mother still thinks that all major cities have all airlines available at all times. |
| Michael: Yeah, the airline industry is certainly a unique one. |
| Amanda: Do you need a coffee? |
| Michael: I was just thinking about that! That would be great, thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Chicago |
| Natalie: Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois and the 3rd most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles with around 2. 7 million residents. |
| Braden: The greater metropolitan area is also the third-largest in the United States with an estimated 9. 8 million people. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the fourth-largest gross domestic product or GDP in the world behind Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. |
| Natalie: Chicago is the third-largest economy in the United States generating approximately $532 billion annually. Many major financial exchanges are headquartered in Chicago including the Chicago Mercantile exchange the Chicago Board of trade, and Chicago's CME group which owns the New York Mercantile exchange and the Dow Jones indexes. |
| Braden: Some of the major corporations located in Chicago are bowling, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, Sears holdings Corporation, and what's left of Motorola. |
| Natalie: There is also a growing number of web startup companies such as Orbitz, the coupon, and fever. |
| Braden: Chicago's universities consistently ranked among the top universities in the United States. Top universities in Chicago include the University of Chicago, Northwest University, and Loyola University Chicago. |
| Natalie: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: The first word we're going to look at is... |
| Natalie: airport [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a place for the takeoff, landing, and maintenance of aircraft |
| Natalie: airport [slowly - broken down by syllable] airport [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: crew [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a group of people who work on and operate some kind of ship |
| Natalie: crew [slowly - broken down by syllable] crew [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: unique [natural native speed] |
| Braden: being the only one of its kind |
| Natalie: unique [slowly - broken down by syllable] unique [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: certainly [natural native speed] |
| Braden: undoubtedly; definitely |
| Natalie: certainly [slowly - broken down by syllable] certainly [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: industry [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a group of businesses offering a particular service or product |
| Natalie: industry [slowly - broken down by syllable] industry [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Next |
| Natalie: airlines [natural native speed] |
| Braden: organization providing a regular public service air transportation through one or more routes |
| Natalie: airlines [slowly - broken down by syllable] airlines [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “a unique one.” |
| Braden: Now, the adjective “unique” means that “something is the only one of its kind” or “it's unlike anything else.” |
| Natalie: The other important part of this phrase is the pronoun “one.” All pronouns refer to some kind of noun. |
| Braden: So the question becomes, which noun is the pronoun “one” referring to? |
| Natalie: And the answer is, “airline industry.” The whole phrase is, "the airline industry is certainly a unique one.” |
| Braden: So in this sentence they are saying that the airline industry is unique or in other words, that the airline industry is unlike any other industry. |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) a unique one |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) a unique one |
| Braden: Perfect! What’s next? |
| Natalie: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “at all times.” |
| Braden: This phrase means that something is or must be done constantly, or continuously. |
| Natalie: An example phrase would be, “You must keep your passport with you at all times when you're in a foreign country.” |
| Braden: Another way of saying it would be, “You must always have your passport with you when you're in a foreign country.” |
| Natalie: It also has the meaning of “without interruption.” So, for example, while you're at the airport you will often hear announced over the intercom phrases like, |
| Braden: “Keep your carry-on baggage in sight at all times.” |
| Braden: Could you break this down for us? |
| Natalie: (slowly) at all times |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Natalie: (fast) at all times |
| Braden: Excellent! Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So Natalie, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Natalie: The focus of this lesson is the past continuous tense |
| Braden: In the dialogue we heard the phrase |
| Natalie: I was just thinking about that! |
| Braden: Sometimes English learners become confused between the simple past tense and the past continuous tense. |
| Natalie: These 2 tenses are quite different. In this lesson we will look at the past continuous tense. |
| Braden: The past continuous tense typically refers to something that happened in the past and events happening at that same time. |
| Natalie: For example – “He was making dinner while she got ready.” |
| Braden: Another example sentence would be – “She was taking a nap when he came home.” |
| Natalie: Let’s look at this with Positive sentences. The past continuous tense is also used when you're talking about an event that happened at a specific time in the past. |
| Braden: The basic structure of the past continuous tense is very simple. It is – Subject + conjugated "to be" verb + verb in "ing" form |
| Natalie: So an example phrase from the dialogue would be – “I was just thinking about that!" |
| Braden: Here, he “was just thinking about" coffee when she suggested it. |
| Natalie: Now let’s look at negative sentences. |
| Braden: To form the past continuous structure with a negative meaning, you add a “not” just before the “ING” verb. |
| Natalie: So, the structure is – Subject + conjugate the helping verb “be" + not + verb + -ing |
| Braden: An example phrase would be – “She wasn't taking a nap when he came home.” |
| Natalie: Last, let’s look at Questions.To form questions using the past continuous use the structure – Question word + conjugated helping verb "be" + subject + verb + -ing |
| Braden: For example – “What were you doing on Monday night at three-thirty in morning?” |
| Natalie: This sentence might be something that a police officer might ask you if you were investigating a crime. Or maybe your parents. (Ha ha) |
| Braden: Another example sentence could be – “Why were you afraid of the dark?” |
| Natalie: Let's review this lesson. |
| Braden: Sometimes English learners become confused between the simple past tense and the past continuous tense. |
| Natalie: This is understandable because they can often be exchanged in the same sentence. However, these 2 tenses are quite different. |
| Braden: In this lesson, we looked at the past continuous tense in all of its forms. |
| Natalie: The past continuous tense typically refers to something that happened in the past and events happening at that same time. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening. |
| Natalie: Have a good day! |
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